The subject invention relates to an accessory item for members of a bridal party, in general, and to a decorative temporary storage apparatus for use with bouquets intended to be carried by hand, in particular.
During the course of a wedding day members of the bridal party, comprised of the bride-to-be, maid or matron of honor and bridesmaids, almost certainly find themselves in circumstances where access to their purse or handbag is impractical or impossible. A few such circumstances, for instance, are immediately prior to and during the wedding ceremony, during photographic sessions, and during their introduction at the wedding reception. Ironically, it is during these critical time periods when bridal party members will want to look and feel their best, but access to the articles within their handbags, such as lipstick and other makeup items, facial tissues, a small mirror, breath mints and the like, is limited. Some brides have even been known to want smelling salts close by during what may be considered a highly stressful, albeit happy event.
Rather than a handbag and the essentials carried therein, members of the bridal party will typically be in possession of a flower bouquet during most of the day. The bouquet is usually held with both hands at approximately elbow level in front of the carrier. In many instances, flowers are suspended in a cascading fashion from the head of the bouquet holder. The construction of a conventional hand held flower bouquet holder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,644 issued to Hasty in 1991, as comprising a head with an element for holding the stems of a bouquet of flowers and an elongate, rigid, plastic handle for holding the bouquet. Numerous variations of this general design have been taught in the prior art such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,365 issued to Hirvi in 1980 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,221 issued to Kossin in 1986. The Hirvi reference teaches, inter alia, a bouquet holder having a flexible handle which conforms to the hand of its holder. The Kossin reference teaches a holder having a head adapted with moisture retention and flower stem retention means. Numerous other variations of this basic design may also be found in the prior art.
It is clear that a significant need exists among members of a bridal party for carrying essential personal items in an inconspicuous manner during the wedding ceremony and at other important times during the wedding day, and without interfering with the carrying of their wedding bouquets.
The subject invention meets the needs of bridal party members by providing a means for carrying necessary personal items during the wedding day in an inconspicuous manner. More particularly, the subject bridal accessory apparatus is comprised of an enclosure capable of holding therein important personal items in a secure fashion and further being capable of temporary attachment to conventional bridal bouquet holders of the prior art. The enclosure is sized to remain hidden behind the head member of such bouquet holders when suspended from the neck region thereof using a variety of attachment means. Thusly positioned, the subject apparatus is relatively hidden from view by wedding guests and photographers. Means for preventing axial displacement of the enclosure along the handle of the bouquet holder are also described herein. In another embodiment, the bouquet holder itself is modified to retain those items of importance to the bridal party.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the subject invention to provide a bridal accessory apparatus capable of holding therein items of importance to bridal party members such as cosmetics, facial tissues, a compact mirror, mints, and the like.
Another primary object of the subject invention is provide means for carrying the above items in an inconspicuous manner, such that the apparatus as a whole is essentially hidden from view by wedding guests and photographers, but which is fashionably designed so as to serve as a keepsake item for the bride and bridesmaids.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a bridal accessory apparatus having means for removable attachment to conventional bouquet holders.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bridal accessory apparatus having means for preventing axial displacement of the apparatus along the handle of a bouquet holder.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bridal accessory apparatus that is simple in its construction and therefore easily manufactured in mass quantities and relatively inexpensive to the consumer.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.